Ontario Government promotes organ and tissue donation in a big way

I've been doing quite a bit of public speaking on organ and tissue donation awareness lately and at almost every event I'm asked "how does one go about getting a donor card?". There are many sources, such as directly from Trillium Gift of Life and our government here in Ontario is helping to make it easy to obtain a card in a big way. You will see below that 15,000 new driver's licences and renewals are mailed daily, all containing donor cards. Also, the Ministry of Health now asks if you wish to be a donor on all new and renewing health cards.

The Ontario Ministry of Transportation (MTO) recently added a special personalized licence plate with the Trillium Gift of Life logo per this sample. And already several people have purchased these and submitted photos for me to post. If you decide to promote organ and tissue donation by getting your own special plate please take a photo and send it to me and I'll create an on-line gallery. This personalized plate is now available through the Ministry of Transportation. For more information or to order visit the MTO web site.

This plate was given to double-lung transplant recipient Kurt Penner by his sons for Father's Day.
Double-lung transplant recipient Herb Kershaw sent in this innovative picture of his plate that reads "lung transplant" in licence plate language.
Its great to see these positive steps being taken by the Ontario Government to promote public awareness for organ and tissue donation. In a recent announcement, the Honorable Harinder Takhar, Minister of Transportation, said that the Ministry already includes organ donor cards in every mailing of new or renewed driver’s licences. And, that they are now adding the Trillium Gift of Life Network message and logo. He noted that every day more than 15,000 licences are issued and they are doing what they can to get the message out and to help save lives.

In addition, MTO will be reminding Ontarians to give the gift of life with a message on the back of every license plate renewal envelope containing an organ and tissue donation card inside.